Continuing care retirement / life plan community occupancy continues to grow, according to a new report from specialty investment bank Ziegler.
Among various levels of care/service potentially offered in such communities — independent living, assisted living, memory care and skilled nursing — independent living had the highest occupancy rate in the first quarter of this year, whereas memory care occupancy grew the most from the first quarter of 2023 to the first quarter of 2024, according to Lisa McCracken, head of research and analytics for the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care, in an article in the latest Ziegler’s Senior Living Finance Z-News newsletter.
Occupancy in independent living in CCRCs increased by 1.1% from the first quarter of 2023 to reach 91% in the first quarter of 2024, although independent living has shown the slowest overall growth across all care/service types offered in CCRCs, according to the report.
Memory care, followed by assisted living, had the largest occupancy growth in CCRCs in the first quarter compared with a year ago. Memory care grew in occupancy by 3.4%, reaching 88.7% in the first quarter. The assisted living area grew in occupancy 2.8% from the first quarter of 2023, to 88.9% in the first quarter of 2024.
“This trend of a more rapid occupancy recovery is also consistent with what is being observed overall across all senior living [and care] types,” McCracken wrote.
Skilled nursing occupancy within CCRCs saw 2% growth from last year, for an 85.1% occupancy rate. When it comes to skilled nursing, however, total skilled nursing inventory within CCRCs continues to decline, Ziegler noted. “So, while the occupancy continues to increase, the overall universe of skilled nursing beds is less than it was one, two and three years ago,” McCracken said.
CCRC occupancy also exceeded occupancy rates for non-CCRC segments, with the greatest gap in independent living — the independent living occupancy rate in CCRCs is 5.7% higher than the occupancy rate in independent living outside of CCRCs, according to NIC MAP data, she said.
McCracken also noted occupancy trends when comparing CCRC entrance-fee models with rental CCRCs, as well as differences between not-for-profit communities versus for-profit organizations. Entrance-fee CCRCs reported occupancy of 90.6%, compared with 86.6% for rental communities. Not-for-profit CCRCs reported average occupancy of 89.9%, compared with 87.2% for for-profit communities.
